


Leaving paw prints on your heart (and bubbles in your mouth)

by orpheous87



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Humor, M/M, Professor Harry Potter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2020-11-10
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:02:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26501083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orpheous87/pseuds/orpheous87
Summary: Draco comes home from work to find Harry with an unexpected guest in the bathroom.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
Comments: 11
Kudos: 186
Collections: HP Suds Fest 2020





	Leaving paw prints on your heart (and bubbles in your mouth)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [xanthippe74](https://archiveofourown.org/users/xanthippe74/gifts).



> Many thanks to crimsonheadache for betaing ❤️
> 
> xanthippe74 - this prompt grabbed me the moment I saw it, and even though I trieed really hard to resist, I just couldn't. I hope you like it!

Opening the front door after a long day at work, Draco sniffed the air with expectation. Harry always had something cooking ready for him coming home on the days he worked later. 

Tonight, there was no enticing smell of chicken roasting in the oven, or steak sizzling in the griddle pan. There wasn’t even a sense of warmth coming from the kitchen like there usually was. Draco frowned. 

“Harry?” 

There was a distinct thump and a splash from upstairs, followed by a string of curse words. 

Draco smiled as he shrugged his coat off and hung it in the cupboard. Harry must have known somehow that he was thinking of taking a bath before dinner and decided to run it for him. He stuck his head into the kitchen, just to check that Harry wasn’t in there, before heading for the stairs. 

As he began to climb, he could hear splashes and more cursing coming from the bathroom which caused him to quicken the pace at which he was taking the stairs. What on earth could be causing Harry so much distress while running a bath? 

With each step, he could hear more of Harry’s muttering. 

_“No… stop doing… just sit, will you!”_

Draco frowned again and took the remaining stairs at a jog. Something was clearly going on in the bathroom and he needed to know what. Walking along the landing, there were a lot of grunts and… was that _panting_ he could hear?

“Harry, what is–” Draco’s words died in his throat as he finally reached the bathroom and opened the door. 

Harry turned with a start, looking up at him guiltily. “Er, hi… I didn’t know you were coming home early.” 

“Early? Harry, it’s six o’clock!” Draco exclaimed. “And don’t change the subject! What in Merlin’s name are you doing? And why is there a bear in our bathtub?” 

“He’s not a bear! This is Leonard,” Harry protested, hands still gripping the fur of the most enormous animal Draco had ever seen in a house. “He’s a Leonberger.” 

“He’s a… what?” Draco asked, looking at the creature sitting in the tub. It looked thoroughly miserable, with bubbles on top of it’s head. 

“A Leonberger. A dog,” Harry clarified, daring to remove one hand from the dog’s fur. 

“That doesn’t explain what it’s doing in our bathtub,” Draco pointed, folding his arms across his chest. 

“He’s– oof! Leonard! Sit!” Harry gasped as Leonard the Leonberger attempted to vacate his soapy prison. “Draco, help me with this, would you?” 

Draco didn’t move. “Harry. What. Is. It. Doing. Here?” 

Harry sighed. “I adopted him today,” he said, looking up at Draco again. “I just happened to bump into Luna while I was out and she was on her way to Battersea to drop some donations off. I had no plans, so I went with her.” 

“And they just… let you bring this monster home with you?” Draco asked incredulously. “What is wrong with them?” 

“I didn’t just take him,” Harry said, frowning. “I filled out the form and everything.” 

“But shouldn’t _I_ have had to sign the form too?” Draco asked, throwing his arms up to the ceiling. Which was a bad move, because Leonard the Leonberger jumped up, presumably to try and catch an imaginary ball. 

Harry barely had time to give a yell of surprise before his mouth was filled with bubbles and his head was underwater as he was pulled into the tub. Within a few seconds, he turned himself over so that he was sitting in the tub beside Leonard, water dripping from the end of his nose, and his glasses covered in foam as he gasped for breath. 

Draco froze, his mouth dropping open as he looked at his now-soaking-wet husband. 

“Great! Thanks, Draco!” Harry exclaimed as he wiped the foam off his glasses. 

“Well, how was I to know that this great lump would do that?” Draco retorted as he surveyed the situation. Leonard was now licking Harry’s face enthusiastically and even though he strongly disapproved, Draco was struggling not to laugh at Harry’s misfortune. 

“Leonard!” Harry spluttered, pushing the dog away. “It’s _you_ that needs washing, not me!” 

“Why does it need washing?” Draco asked, immediately suspicious. Surely a dog that had just been adopted should be clean?

“ _He_ not it!” Harry corrected him. “We had an _incident_ when we were walking home.” 

“What _kind_ of incident?” Draco asked with his hands on his hips now. 

“Well we took the shortcut through the square and he managed to find a huge muddy puddle to lie in,” Harry said, pushing his wet hair off his forehead. “And then he rolled over.”

“Harry, I don’t even know what to do with this information,” Draco replied, looking at the dog, which was regarding him quietly. “What in Merlin’s name possessed you to get a dog of this size?” 

“He was just laid there in his kennel,” Harry replied, lifting a hand to scratch Leonard’s chin and smiling as the dog closed his eyes happily. “Looking miserable. His owner had died and no-one wanted him so they took him to Battersea and apparently no-one wants such a big dog.”

“I can’t imagine why,” Draco said, his voice dry and sarcastic. 

“Oh, don’t,” Harry said. “He’ll be no trouble! He’s trained, he just… doesn’t like baths.” 

“Which makes it trouble if he likes getting muddy!” Draco exclaimed. “We can hardly use magic to clean him, can we?” 

“Well no, but…” 

“No buts! Harry, we can’t keep him, he’s huge!” Draco said. “If you want a dog, we can get a dog, but we need a smaller one.”

“Draco, look at him,” Harry pleaded. “Look at his face! How can you turn him away?” 

“Quite easily,” Draco replied. “He’s too big for the house! Too fond of getting muddy and not fond enough of baths!” 

“Don’t be ridiculous! He won’t be muddy all the time,” Harry protested. “I promise he won’t be! We’d been walking for over an hour, he was probably just tired! He didn’t know we were nearly home.” 

“Harry…” Draco said, his eyes never leaving Leonard. “Come on…” 

“No, you come on!” Harry said, his voice rising. “Give me a hand to get him bathed and dried and you’ll see. He’s lovely.” 

Draco was silent for a moment before extending his hand to Harry, intending to help him out of the bath. He could tell that this dog was–already–important to Harry, so he wanted to give it a chance. It was just _so fucking huge_. 

Harry grasped Draco’s outstretched hand, though it was a slippery hold considering his hand was still wet and soapy and twice he fell back into the water, covering both Draco and the floor with a mini tidal wave. 

Draco eventually took pity on Harry and gripped his shirt sleeve, hauling him out of the bath completely, being careful not to slip on the wet floor. 

“Thanks. Grab that shampoo over there. I didn’t get him all washed properly,” Harry said as he picked the shower up to soak the dog again. 

Leonard, who had sat quietly while Draco extracted Harry from the bath, had other ideas and as soon as Harry picked up the shower, he stood up and shook himself. 

Draco was right in the firing line and found himself covered from head to toe in bubbles, droplets of water, and dog slobber. He gasped in surprise that was mixed with disgust. 

Harry had managed to turn his head away just in time to avoid getting covered in slobber himself. He quickly grabbed at the thick fur at the back of Leonard’s neck to stop him from jumping out of the bath. 

“Harry, I swear to Merlin…” Draco muttered as he wiped the bubbles from his face. 

“Shush! We’ll get this done quickly,” Harry insisted, turning the shower on. He made sure it wasn’t too hot and then turned it onto Leonard. He worked quickly, fully soaking the dog again. 

Draco uncapped the shampoo and squirted some onto the bits that Harry had already soaked. He waited until he’d put enough shampoo onto the dog before putting the bottle aside. 

Harry turned the shower off and they both began soaping Leonard up, thoroughly working the shampoo into a lather. 

The task wasn’t as straightforward as they might have imagined it to be and three times Leonard attempted to jump out of the bath. Once he managed it and got out onto the landing before Harry managed to rugby tackle him into submission and lead him back into the bathroom. 

“Harry, this is ridiculous,” Draco said, slumping to the floor beside the bath. “I’m exhausted and I’m starving. How long is it supposed to take to bath a bear?” 

“He’s _not_ a _bear_!” Harry cried. “We’re nearly done, I promise! He just needs rinsing off and drying now.”

“Alright, alright,” Draco sighed, pushing himself to his feet. “Let’s get him rinsed off and see how wet we end up this time.”

“You hold onto him,” Harry instructed. “I’ll rinse him with the shower.” 

Draco made a face but nodded, taking a firm grip of Leonard’s fur and looking him in the eye. “Don’t you dare lick me,” he told him.

Leonard gazed back solemnly. 

Harry tested the shower again and quickly turned it onto Leonard, ensuring that all of the soap suds slid off and down the drain. He took care around Leonard’s head, making sure the suds didn’t get into his eyes, and eventually the water was clear as it ran off Leonard’s back. Harry turned the shower off. “Right, get some towels.” 

Draco let go of Leonard and turned to grab the thick, fluffy towel that was on the rail beside him. As soon as his hand was free of Leonard’s fur, Leonard once again stood up and shook himself all over, sending a spray of clean water across the whole room, including Harry and Draco. 

“Ugh,” Harry groaned, wiping his glasses again.

“I bet you wish you’d used a water-repelling spell on those, don’t you?” Draco commented, patting his own face with the towel he was holding before holding it out to Harry silently. 

“Shut up,” Harry muttered, taking the towel and giving his hair a vigorous rub. “If we towel him off, he can dry in front of the fire while we eat.” 

“And what are you thinking of eating? It’s taken us nearly an hour to do this,” Draco replied, picking up another towel and beginning to towel dry Leonard. 

“Takeaway,” Harry answered, drying Leonard’s face carefully. “I’ll go and pick it up so it’s quicker. The Chinese at the end of the road won’t be busy tonight.” 

“I hope not,” Draco said. “And this dog better not get any ideas either.” 

“He’s got his own food,” Harry huffed. “Don’t worry, he won’t want any of your noodles.” 

Draco snorted softly but didn’t reply. He doubted that, but didn’t think it was worth getting into another argument over. 

For a few minutes, they were silent as they worked together to towel as much excess water off Leonard as possible before stepping back to let him out of the tub. The experience of the past hour told them that he needed no help in that department. 

Leonard jumped out of the tub, shook himself once more, and trotted out of the door and down the landing.

Draco looked at Harry. 

“What?” 

“I can’t believe you’ve done this,” Draco said, shaking his head. 

“Look, I couldn’t leave him there,” Harry replied. “His story struck a chord with me and I _know_ we can give him a good life.” 

“But what will happen when we’re at work all day?” Draco asked, pulling out his wand and casting a drying charm over them both as he spoke. “Where will he go?” 

“He can come to work with me,” Harry said. “I’ve, er, I’ve already cleared it with McGonagall.” 

Draco held back a groan. “What?”

“I called her this afternoon,” Harry said sheepishly. “It’ll mean I have to travel up to the school on the train with him, but that’s alright.” 

“Are you kidding? He’ll take up an entire carriage to himself! And what happens when you want to come home on a night?” Draco asked, his eyes wide at the thought of not seeing his husband for a whole term.

“I’ll use the Floo to come back every night like I usually do,” Harry said. “Hagrid will look after Leonard. He’s missed Fang terribly over the last few years.” 

“Hmm, well…” Draco said thoughtfully. “I suppose that’s not such a bad idea.”

“Exactly. Come on, I’m starving,” Harry said. “I’ll go and get that Chinese and we can have a quiet night in.”

Draco nodded, leaving the bathroom and heading down the stairs with Harry hot on his heels. “Where has that bloody dog got to?” 

“I don’t know,” Harry said, peering over Draco’s shoulder. “He can’t have gone far. All the doors are closed.” 

Draco led the way into the living room and stopped. In front of them, Leonard was on the hearth-rug in front of the fire, fast asleep. Now that he looked at him properly, Draco could see that the dog was quite handsome, with his red-brown fur that was tinged with black in places and his solid black-masked face. 

Harry looked over Draco’s shoulder once more, biting his lip gently. “Look how happy he is.” 

Draco sighed. He’d lost, he knew he had because even he could see how content Leonard was. “Alright,” he said softly. “He can stay. But I hope you know how to take care of him properly.” 

Harry grinned and threw his arms around Draco, pressing a wet kiss to his cheek. “I’ll get a book tomorrow and learn everything there is to know about Leonbergers. I promise.” 

Draco chuckled and turned, kissing Harry properly. “Good. That coat looks more high maintenance than my hair,” he said. 

Harry laughed and rested his chin on Draco’s shoulder briefly. “Thank you.” 

“Chinese,” Draco murmured. “Before I change my mind.” 

Harry rolled his eyes, but obediently put his shoes on and went to pick their food up without argument.


End file.
